1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to semiconductors having logic circuit functionality and, more particularly, to a semiconductor device whose logical function can be reconfigured.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many logic circuits are for use in products having a short product development cycle (e.g., mobile devices such as mobile telephones) because the function of many logic circuits can be reconfigured by means of programming and the cycle of circuit design for such logic circuits can be shortened. As a reconfigurable logic circuit, for example, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) may be employed. FPGAs utilize static random access memory (SRAM) for programming and anti-fuse technology wherein an anti-fuse becomes conductive after it is programmed.
On the other hand, flash memories are widely used as a non-volatile memory. There are flash memories having an Oxide/Nitride/Oxide (ONO) film such as MONOS (Metal Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon) type or SONOS (Silicon Oxide Nitride Oxide Silicon) type. In these types of flash memories, the charge is stored in the silicon nitride layer, known as a trapping layer, which is sandwiched between the silicon oxide layers. Flash memory having the ONO film is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,725 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document 1). In flash memory having an ONO film, data is written by storing the charge in the ONO film. Such stored charge changes the threshold voltage of the transistor in a non-volatile manner. Data is read by reading the threshold voltage. Also, data is erased by extracting the stored charge.
With respect to conventional FPGAs, however, while SRAM is programmable any number of times, it is volatile. In contrast, the anti-fuse is non-volatile, yet it is programmable only once. In addition, it is difficult to satisfy both the wide selectivity and design efficiency in terms of circuit design. Further, the fabrication process is complicated if the FPGA logic circuit and the non-volatile memory are fabricated on a single chip.